Tested in Toulouse, the personalized cancer vaccine is seeing encouraging results
Through Clement Gruin
Published on
updated on 1 Feb 23 at 18:32
The first results of the clinical trial of individualized cancer vaccine are encouraged for researchers of theUniversity Cancer Institute of Toulouse and their partner Transgene, which developed the TG4050 vaccine in its Alsatian laboratory. A dozens of patients have been vaccinated in France for the first test phase which is coming to an end.
The aim of the study is to check that this vaccine, developed for each patient from their own antigens, makes it possible to elicits the expected immune response in the patient. The study focuses on ENT cancers and ovarian cancers, which respond less well to immunotherapy.
“We will train the immune system, teach it how and where to attack each patient’s cancer according to its characteristics. Such a product is at the forefront of personalized medicine. We will make a unique drug for each patient. It is a major effort in research but also in production”
Unlike conventional vaccines, which seek to prevent a disease, this therapeutic vaccine aims to treat the patient. “With these first results, we want to prove that a personalized vaccine is the good strategy to activate T cells against cancer cells,” explains Professor Jean-Pierre Delord, who is coordinating the trial.
This clinical trial focuses on ENT and ovarian cancers, but the concept could eventually be extended to other types. “The vaccine is based on the presence of mutations that are found in most cancers, behind there is a application potential to many other types of tumours, explains Professor Maha Ayyoub, an immunologist at the IUCT. But when you want to have clinical results, you need a controlled study and you have to start somewhere. »
Transgene is the only laboratory to work on immunotherapy in France, relying on theartificial intelligence to identify the tumor mutations to select for each patient. “We are happy that these good ideas worked three years ago in France: we are in global competition and in the end it will be progress for our patients”, underlines Jean-Pierre Delord.
The first test phase was conducted with 21 patients in France (15 in Toulouse, 6 at the Institut Curie in Paris), but also in the United Kingdom and the United States. “We are nearing the end of this clinical trial, which motivates us not to stop there, assures Hedi Ben Brahim. We will go to the phase two this year, which is more ambitious and must work even stronger the profit paid by our treatment. »
The search continues
There is still a long way to go before this vaccine is accessible to the general public. “In our study, none of the vaccinated patients had a relapse”, welcomes Professor Delord, while specifying that these results must be confirmed by a larger trial. “We are very happy with this result, but we cannot claim victory today. It’s necessary a little more time before this vaccine was a conventional medicine and accessible to all. »
This study is one more step for cancer research, which has been trying to develop a vaccine for decades. “This development since the 1990s to manufacture cancer vaccines has enabled the development of the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in such a short time: we had been working on these new vaccine concepts for decades, ”underlines Professor Ayyoub.
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